IBM Thinkpad 600E bios mod for processor update

[brokencase]

I was able to get the above to load under kernel 2.4.18-3 (RH7.2) as is.
I did this on a Mobile Pentium 4 Thinkpad T30. I ran some benchmarks to confirm. It's amazing how much performance is lost when the cache is turned off on a P4.

It should be easy to load the cache enabler module very early in the boot proccess so that the majority of boot sequence runs with the cache enabled.

This weekend I will see if I can get things working on the 600e with the newer 2.6 kernel.

[brokencase]

Well, I successfully upgraded my 600e to the MMC-2 750!
I also performed Shardoc's 108 fsb mod. The machine boots at the low speedstep speed of 600mhz and then I get to 648mhz with the fsb mod.

I initially thought that the Arch Linux 0.5 version I was running was a 2.6 kernel. It turns out it is 2.4.21. So the cachectl modules load just fine. I added a line in rc.local to load the cache enabling module at boot.

I ran cpuburn for 20 minutes and I would say that the heat output is about the same (or less) than the PII 400 that was in there previously. Just to be safe, I removed the old thermal pad and used silver based thermal compound as suggested by another poster.

I might add that the mounting studs on the cpu spreader are designed to space the heatsink up about half the thickness of the thermal pad. I drilled reliefs in the heatsink holes so that it would be right up against the cpu. This closes up the gap and works better with the thermal compund.

Easy upgrade for the most part. Toughest part is the fsb mod. Use a soldering iron with a fine tip!

[brokencase]

Arrrgh! The cachectl module only inits the L1 cache! I figured this out by running a cache benchmark.

After doing some more studying. I have discovered that L2 initialization is much more complex and not very well documented. I am going to try to take the source from the freebios project and making a module out of it.

Nothing is easy...

[brokencase]

It is done.. I was able to get the freebios code to load as a module and enable the L2 cache. I will see if I can post a link to the code to download if anyone is interested.

[cotopaxi]

i have been following this and i think instead of modding the heatsink(see brokencase), a copper shim is a good idea, with silver paste on both sides. that is if i can get stock the same thickness as the old pad.

i dont' want to mess with the original dimensions.

i would rather not take a chance on 108MHz, it may exceed my 66MHz on-board SDRAM, and im not savvy with bios code to de-map the chips.

648 MHz would be nice though.

i guess i can look up the chips, they may in fact be 120-133 rated, a lot of PC 66 was in 1999.


my SODIMMs are PC 100 from a tpad Txx, so i suppose they'll be fine.

i have just copied all 8 pages of this thread so i can sit down with the BIOS tweaks for L2, but if it runs stable with 2 keystrokes, i'm ok with it.

it will confuse data thieves!

600MHz would be enough. and that speed should be well below the thermal dissipation of 800MHz, and im guessing cooler than the original 366MHz. ii'll have to look at the specs from intel.

i don't need blazing speed, just reliability and modest battery useage. i came upon the 800 in a package deal.

can anyone tell what the low speedstep is on my P-iii/800 MMC-2? is it 600MHz?

has anyone got a mod for around 95MHz? i 'd trade a few clock cycles for lower tempurature.

how about an L2 utility for linux (or other unix)? anyone?

[brokencase]

cotopaxi, Might be a good idea to disable the onboard ram to be safe at first. But I did'nt bother and I have no trouble at 108mhz.

I've been running several days now continuous with no trouble with the heat.

You can find your speed step speed here:
http://www.eonet.ne.jp/~sawarabi/siryou ... _sspec.htm

I have the linux L2 cache enabler finished. I will see if I can post a link to to the tarball this evening. Only works with 2.4.x kernels.

[number]

hello, this is my first message on this forum and I am also a proud owner of a 600E, with a PIII-850 cpu running at 700 mhz do you think is it possible to enable speedstep reflashing the bios?

[brokencase]

Here is the link to the cache enabler for Linux that I cobbled together:
http://www.hedingrips.com/l2cacheon.tgz

This builds a kernel module that will enable both the L1 & L2 caches when loaded.

You can test that it is working with utilities found here:
http://lbs.sourceforge.net/
Specifically:
http://icl.cs.utk.edu/projects/llcbench/cachebench.html

number, congrats on the PIII-850 conquest. You don't see the 850's very often on ebay. Where did you get yours?

Enabling the speedstep is the next puzzle. I am not optimistic that it can be achieved through a bios flash. But a utility might be possible.

It sure is nice to get this second wind out of the 600e. This model has the best dang keyboard ever made for a laptop..

I'm now having dreams of 1 ghz+ pga soldered onto MMC-2 module and sugar plum fairies...

[Sharedoc]

Brokencase,

Great job.

Can anyone confirm cache setup working with newer linux build?

[Sharedoc]

Number,

Reflashing the bios does not help, because 600E mainboard does not support SpeedStep.

[brokencase]

Maybe one way would be to run a wire to a switch on the side of the case. The user then runs a utility and is prompted to press the switch.

Sharedoc, do you have any data on that speedstep controller chip that is on the MMC-2?

[Sharedoc]

Nope. The only useful SpeedStep information I have found from Intel mmc2-PIII specs. Especially comparing mmc2-connector signals between old non-SpeedStep-PIII and later SpeedStep-PIII specs.

The mod I described basically hardwires SpeedStep controller output signal to force SpeedStep higher frequency on. Unfortunately this is not enough to trigger a state-transition. Somehow booting from battery seems to trigger the state transition sometimes.

[fdsafdsa]

Trying to do this TP 600E upgrade, but am having problems. I installed a new 600MHZ processor module.

#1 If I boot without the 256MB memory stick installed, I get the 127 error. Edited BIOS (02->A0 @ 20) to fix that and it fully booted a copy of Knoppix Linux with just the onboard 32MB, so I know processor and onboard memory work.

#2. I then installed one 256MB PC100 memory stick and the system reports 292MB of memory, but doesn't boot (as expected).

#3. Edited the BIOS (80 -> 81 @ 2B) to disable the onboard ram, but now the system just beeps (one short beep and one long beep). Blank dead screen after that. I guess I should look up the beep codes, but I'm sure it will be related to some memory error.

Have been able to unplug the battery to reset the original bios, but not sure what to do to get my 256MB stick to work. The memory stick should work because I bought it new. I have read all the posts in this thread.

Here are a couple of related questions:
I only edited the BASE 128 CMOS bios page, but did notice the same values at the same locations in the Extended CMOS page. I didn't know if it was safe to mess with this page, so I didn't. Could this have something to do with it?

And, I am only installing one 256MB memory stick (have tried in both memory slots). Does the upgraded 600E need to have both memory locations populated? I have read this upgrade should be able to handle up to 512MB of PC100 memory, so I bought one 256MB stick and was going to add another stick later.

I would appreciate any assistance.
Thanks



Processor Module Info:
PN: PMM60002201AC
MMC-2
PIII 600
256K L2
http://download.intel.com/design/mobile ... 530647.pdf

BIOS version reported:
INET25WW, 09/10/99

Memory Stick Info:
256MB 32X64 PC100 CL2 LP
Mfg: Legacy Electronics, Inc.
PN: 57L5IM0L-1EAG
Link:
http://www.legacyelectronics.com/produc ... fered%2C0#

Note: The link only get you to a list of memory modules, which does not list the memory module I have, but if you follow the pdf link for 57x5IM0L-1GAG, it will take you to the datasheet for the 57L5IMOL-1EAG. Sorry it had to be this way, but the site would not let me grab a direct link to the page.

[Katch]

How many chips are on the SODIMMS? These TPs will only accept 16 Chip Low density modules.

EDIT - Just checked that pdf looks like these are 8 chip modules, no workie for these in TP600s i'm afraid.

Sharedoc, any more news on a better fix for the cache re-enablement yet? If you need a hand with anything let me know.

[Sharedoc]

fdsafdsa,

Propably the memory stick is the problem.

Here is a list of memory types for 600E

http://zurich.ai.mit.edu/hypermail/thin ... /1121.html

Revised table:

256 Meg RAM parts in 600E $
-------------------------------------------
Known to work
Viking 286172 PC100 256MB James Maugham
Crucial 256 (Type 2662 from X20 matrix) Nat
SimpleTech with Toshiba chips Carl Lowensohn
Kingston KTM-TP390X/256 James Maugham 116
Crucial CT184910 $71.99 is cheap Jan02 James Maugham
Viking I0258 James Maugham
-------------------------------------------
Known not to work
Crucial 100 MHz Ray Bayles
8-chip 256 SODIMMS (use 16-chip) Carl Lowensohn
-------------------------------------------
"Should work"
KINGSTON TECHNOLOGY 256MB 32X64 PC100 SDRAM-100MHZ
NON-ECC SODIMM CL2 James Maugham